Argentina's first lady makes history with presidential win | World news | The Guardian Share on Messenger Close Argentina has its first elected woman president: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will take over from her husband after winning yesterday's election. With results announced at more than 96% of polling stations, the first lady - wife of President Néstor Kirchner - had about 45% of the vote, compared with 23% for her chief rival, Elisa Carrió, and 17% for the former economy minister Roberto Lavagna. Mrs Kirchner now has an unassailable lead and is due to be officially confirmed as Argentina's first elected female head of state. "We have won amply," she said. "But this, far from putting us in a position of privilege, puts us instead in a position of greater responsibilities and obligations." She also claimed some credit for the economic progress made during her husband's presidency after the economic crisis of 2001, when the economy grew by 50% and unemployment halved. "We have repositioned the country, fought poverty and unemployment, all these tragedies that have hit Argentines." Ms Carrió has already conceded defeat.

In a broadcast speech she said: "We congratulate and recognise her victory." However, her spokesman said seven parties had made an official complaint alleging missing or stolen ballots. One representative of the ruling party was arrested on suspicion of trying to vote twice. Mrs Kirchner, a former lawyer, is expected to maintain leftwing populist economic policies, such as price controls, and to inject glamour and energy into Argentine diplomacy. Her husband, dour and proudly provincial, loathed foreign trips, but was feted at home for overseeing the economic recovery. One challenge will be to maintain good relations with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, who has poured billions of dollars into Argentina's economy, while improving ties with Washington. Mr Cháavez telephoned Mrs Kirchner last night to congratulate her. "This is a triumph of the women of Latin America, because women are going to save the world," he said, according to Venezuela's state-run Bolivarian News Agency. Kirchner supporters did not wait for the official results. The campaign headquarters on the 17th floor of the Intercontinental hotel in Buenos Aires soon turned into a party.

Drummers bussed in from Bajo Flores, a poor district of the city, gathered on the street outside for what promised to be a night-long fiesta. Yesterday's victory sealed a remarkable pact between the first couple. Mr Kirchner would almost certainly have won a second term after delivering rapid growth and populist policies, which most Argentines want to continue. Instead, he stepped down in favour of his wife and mobilised the Peronist machine - and state resources - behind her candidacy. There is speculation that he may run again after her term, perpetuating a Kirchner dynasty. "The president chose her because she's the best candidate," said Felipe Martinez, 39, one of the revellers outside the Kirchner headquarters. "Today we've seen that the people have put their confidence in her. We expect her to continue in the same path." Mr Martinez was dressed as a penguin in honour of the first couple's Patagonian power base. Mr Kirchner's nickname is the Penguin. The couple's success has been dubbed March of the Penguins. The first lady, who is a 54-year-old mother of two and veteran politician in her own right, has been compared with Eva Perón and Hillary Clinton.

Unlike the US Democrats' frontrunner, however, she has not had to campaign hard, debate with rivals or spell out policies on inflation, crime and a looming energy crisis - serious problems that could quickly sour her presidency. With her victory seemingly inevitable in a crowded field of 13 rivals, Mrs Kirchner's campaign had the aura of a coronation. She shunned debates with rivals, largely ignored the media and held few rallies. "We don't know what plans she has. She hasn't said anything," Mr Lavagna said earlier. The country's 27.1 million registered voters were obliged to vote, ensuring a good turnout, but the campaign was marred by widespread apathy, which gave no sense that the first election of a female president was historic. Mrs Kirchner will be the most powerful woman in Latin America, as President Michelle Bachelet of Chile, the region's only other female head of state, heads a much smaller economy. After casting her ballot in the morning Mrs Kirchner told reporters that she savoured voting because of the 1976-1983 dictatorship. "I'm part of a generation that grew up in a country in which nobody could say anything.

So we value this in a very special way," she said. BBC Learning English | Argentina's first elected woman President Learning English > News English > Words in the News Learning English - Words in the News 29 October, 2007 - Published 12:04 GMT Argentina's first elected woman President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner won Argentina's Presidential elections Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner won Argentina's Presidential elections and will take over as the country's first elected woman President from her husband, Nestor Kirchner. She won a clear victory with more than 40% of the vote - enough to avoid a second round of voting. This report from Daniel Schweimler: Listen to the story Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called her victory a triumph for all Argentines. Addressing supporters at her campaign headquarters in a hotel in Buenos Aires, she urged the whole of society to work together. A country, she said, could not be built by a government alone. Mrs Kirchner also thanked her husband, Nestor, who she will replace as President, before being drowned out by the cheering crowd. With more than forty percent of the vote she's won an outright victory with no need for a second round next month.

The former economy minister, Roberto Lavagna, finished a distant second, and the ex-beauty queen, Elisa Carrio, was third. Some of the candidates alleged fraud but the official results merely confirmed what the opinion polls had been saying for several months - that Cristina Kirchner would be the first elected woman president of Argentina.

Daniel Schweimler, BBC News, Buenos Aires a very great success, achievement or, as in this case, victory headquarters urged the whole of society strongly advised all the people in Argentina who she will replace whose (former) job/position she will take drowned out silenced (if a loud noise drowns out another noise, it prevents it from being heard) an outright victory a complete victory (Mrs Kirchner has had enough support of voters to win the first time round) finished a distant second was the second most successful but with far too few votes to compete with Mrs Kirchner ex-beauty queen the former winner of a beauty contest alleged fraud said there had been an intention to give inaccurate results, but they had no proof of that merely Cristina Fernández de Kirchner | Meet the Women Who Rule the World | POPSUGAR Love & Sex Meet the Women Who Rule the World Photo 4 of 17 Country: Argentina Position: President Claim to Fame: Taking office in 2007, former first lady Cristina is Argentina's first elected female president, second female president ever to serve, and first woman ever reelected. She's an advocate for human rights, poverty awareness, and health.

Cristina's also a fashion icon in her country, although since her husband — former president Néstor Kirchner — died in 2010, Cristina has only worn black. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner | president of Argentina | Britannica.com Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Emilio Fermin Mignone Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, née Cristina Fernández (born February 19, 1953, La Plata , Argentina ), Argentine lawyer and politician who in 2007 became the first female elected president of Argentina. She succeeded her husband, Néstor Kirchner , who had served as president from 2003 to 2007. Argentine Pres. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Markus Schreiber/AP Fernández attended the National University of La Plata, where she met Kirchner, a fellow law student. In 1975 she and Kirchner married. One year later, after the military junta seized control of Argentina, the couple fled La Plata for Néstor’s hometown of Río Gallegos in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz .

There they opened a law practice and, with the return of democracy in 1983, became active in electoral politics. Fernández de Kirchner was a provincial delegate to the Justicialist ( Peronist ) Party (PJ) convention in 1985 and was later elected to the provincial legislature. Her husband won election as mayor of Río Gallegos in 1987, and in 1991 she became the first lady of Santa Cruz when her husband was elected to the first of three consecutive four-year terms as provincial governor. Fernández de Kirchner twice represented Santa Cruz in the Argentine Senate (1995–97, 2001–05). She also served (1997–2001) in the Chamber of Deputies. During her tenure in Congress, she was one of the PJ’s most vocal critics of the Peronist administration of Pres. Carlos Menem , voting frequently against his legislative initiatives . Her husband assumed the presidency on May 25, 2003, after Menem—facing a certain loss to Kirchner in a second-round runoff—withdrew from that year’s presidential race.

In 2005 Kirchner was in a struggle with former president Eduardo Duhalde for control of the PJ in the crucial province of Buenos Aires , where 38 percent of the Argentine population resided. The struggle peaked in October when Fernández de Kirchner squared off against Duhalde’s spouse, Hilda González de Duhalde, in the Buenos Aires province senatorial election. In that contest Fernández de Kirchner won 46 percent of the vote, easily defeating González de Duhalde, who claimed just 20 percent. While the high-profile victory helped her husband win acknowledgment as the undisputed leader of Peronism, it also reaffirmed Fernández de Kirchner’s growing political influence and helped insulate her against charges of inexperience during her own run for the presidency in 2007. In 2007 Kirchner decided not to run for reelection, and Fernández de Kirchner began campaigning for the presidency. She held a commanding lead in the polls, and in the election on October 28 she captured 45 percent of the final presidential vote tally, nearly double that of her closest competitor, Elisa Carrió, who garnered 23 percent.

Fernández de Kirchner formally assumed office on December 10, 2007, to begin a four-year term. Almost immediately she encountered criticism from the United States , which claimed it had intercepted campaign funds sent from the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez . Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent The following spring Fernández de Kirchner imposed a new tax system to significantly increase export taxes on grains in an attempt to control Argentine food prices. Her actions were met with large-scale strikes and protests by farmers’ unions throughout the country, who complained that the increase would reduce their profits. Roadways were blocked so grain trucks could not pass, resulting in food shortages. The strikes continued for four months and split the country into sides: those who supported the government and those who advocated for the farmers. In June Fernández de Kirchner agreed to submit the measure to Congress. The increase in taxes was approved by the Chamber of Deputies but was rejected by the Argentine Senate by one vote. In the midterm legislative elections held in June 2009, the president’s ruling coalition lost power in both houses of Congress. The results reflected her declining popularity as well as that of her husband, who lost his race for a congressional seat.

Structures of Government: Fact or Fiction? The Kirchners rebounded from that setback, however, thanks to a fragmented opposition and a booming economy. Fernández de Kirchner pursued popular social programs, and in July 2010 she signed legislation that made Argentina the first country in Latin America to allow same-sex marriage . Also in 2010 Fernández de Kirchner’s administration engineered a successful debt swap with two-thirds of the “holdout” creditors who had rejected Argentina’s 2005 restructuring of debt upon which the country had defaulted in 2001. That swap, combined with that of 2005, ensured that more than 90 percent of the original bondholders participated in a restructuring agreement. Fernández de Kirchner’s husband was regarded as a likely candidate in the 2011 presidential election, and his sudden death in October 2010 triggered widespread sympathy for Fernández de Kirchner, who campaigned for reelection in his stead.

On October 23, 2011, almost a year to the day after her husband’s death, Fernández de Kirchner won a landslide victory to secure a second term as Argentina’s president, and her ruling party reclaimed its majority in Congress. In January 2012 she took a 20-day medical leave from office in order to be treated for thyroid cancer. However, her spokesperson subsequently announced that Fernández de Kirchner had been misdiagnosed, as medical tests revealed no cancer cells in her thyroid, which had been removed. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Climbing inflation began to undermine the Argentine economy, as price and export controls imposed by Fernández de Kirchner’s government proved largely ineffective. The economy was also threatened by creditors who had refused to accept any of the earlier debt restructuring and who undertook ongoing legal efforts to recover all the money they had lent to the Argentine government. In June 2014 Fernández de Kirchner was unable to prevent Argentina from going into technical default after the U.S.

Supreme Court chose not to hear Argentina’s appeal of a lower court decision that had ordered the country to pay the first tranche of a total of about $15 billion to the U.S. hedge funds that had refused to restructure the debt. That decision prohibited Argentina from making interest payments to those creditors who had agreed to restructuring. In January 2015 the still-struggling economy became a secondary concern for Fernández de Kirchner, as she found herself at the centre of a scandal involving the death of a special prosecutor who had been investigating the 1994 vehicle bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in which 85 individuals were killed. On January 18—the day before he was scheduled to testify before Congress and several days after releasing a report in which he accused Fernández de Kirchner of trying to undermine his investigation—the prosecutor, Alberto Nisman , was found dead of a gunshot wound to his head in his apartment.

Nisman, who had begun investigating the bombing in 2004 and who had concluded early on that the government of Iran was behind the attack, accused Fernández de Kirchner, her foreign minister, and others of engaging in negotiations with Iran to cover up the responsibility of Iranian government officials for the bombing in return for Iran entering into a trade deal with Argentina. Shortly after the discovery of Nisman’s death, the president announced her belief that he had killed himself. As public outrage mounted and conspiracy theories swirled, however, Fernández de Kirchner used social media as a forum to reverse her stance. She indicated that she now believed that Nisman had been the victim of foul play and that rogue intelligence agents had misled him regarding her involvement in the bombing investigation in an attempt to besmirch her reputation.Building on that statement, Fernández de Kirchner went on television on January 27 to announce her plans to disband the country’s domestic intelligence agency, the Secretariat of Intelligence (SI), and to send Congress legislation to create a new, more transparent security organization. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Fernández de Kirchner was prohibited by the constitution from running for another term in the 2015 presidential election.

Her handpicked successor, Daniel Scioli , the former governor of Buenos Aires province, was thought to be something of a shoo-in, but he only narrowly won the first round of voting in October and failed to gain the 45 percent of the vote necessary to prevent a runoff election. That runoff, held on November 22, was won by the conservative candidate, Mauricio Macri , who took about 51 percent of the vote to about 48 percent for Scioli. Day of firsts as presidential baton in Argentina passes from husband to wife | World news | The Guardian Share on Messenger Close Three decades ago they were young law students who exchanged wedding rings in a country on the brink of military dictatorship. Nestor and Cristina Kirchner were bright and had political ambitions but Argentina was entering an era of brutal repression and economic disaster. Who knew what the future held. Yesterday came the remarkable answer when Nestor, a popular and successful outgoing president, passed the presidential sash and baton to his wife, the country's first elected female head of state. After receiving them Kirchner embraced her husband, grinned and saluted cheering congressional deputies. She lavished praise on the outgoing administration and promised continuity.

"We believe firmly in this political project," she said. She promised to seek a social pact between businesses and trade unions and to do "what was necessary" to sustain Argentina's recovery. It was a day of firsts. The first time power had directly passed from one spouse to another via the ballot box. The first time Argentina had a "first gentleman". The first time Latin America had two current female presidents, with Cristina following the lead of Chile's Michelle Bachelet. And the first time in ages Hugo Chávez said something that offended nobody. "This is the dawn of a big fiesta in Buenos Aires," said Venezuela's president. Heads of state from across the region flocked to Argentina's capital for an inauguration which had the air of a coronation. Police sealed off entire blocks around Plaza de Mayo for what were expected to be day-long celebrations. Catching the mood of female empowerment, still a novelty in this macho part of the world, several countries sent women to represent them, including the US labour secretary, Elaine Chao, Mexico's foreign minister, Patricia Espinosa Cantellano, and Canada's governor general, Michaelle Jean.

Cristina Kirchner had made her path to the presidential Casa Rosada, the Pink House, appear smooth but nobody doubted that behind the glamour was a tough, seasoned operator. When her centre-left, populist husband declined to run for a second term, despite polls predicting a landslide, his senator wife, like him a veteran of the Peronist movement, was the obvious successor. Last month she crushed a fragmented opposition in an election so serene it verged on soporific. Yet it was historic. Argentina's previous female president, Isabel Perón, was not elected. Juan Perón's earlier wife, Evita, never held formal office. It remains to be seen whether the other politician she is compared to, Hillary Clinton, can catch up. Yesterday the 54-year-old, who has two children, was not only taking charge of one of the region's biggest economies, she was bringing Argentina back into the international limelight after four years in which her proudly provincial and dour husband seldom left the country. The new presidenta was a globetrotter with designer suits and a passionate, raspy way with words guaranteed to shake up summits.

Flamboyance aside, Cristina is said to model herself on the businesslike approach of Germany's Angela Merkel. "The government that is coming is going to be much better than the one that's now leaving," said her husband. It was just as well because her honeymoon with the country could be short, he warned. "Hard tasks await Cristina." Inflation, an energy crisis, crime and querulous labour unions topped the list of challenges that will swiftly test the new leader. "Her political challenge will be to avoid the inevitable wear and tear that a second term usually entails," said Rosendo Fraga, an Argentine analyst. Today she is expected to meet Dominique Strauss-Kahn, director of the International Monetary Fund, to discuss the fall-out from Argentina's debt default. Simultaneously Buenos Aires will host renewed efforts to free hostages held by Marxist guerrillas in Colombia. Voters endorsed the presidential job swap in last month's election because it represented continuity. Nestor Kirchner inherited a country on its knees from the 2001 financial and economic collapse and was credited with guiding it to a swift recovery. Some analysts compare the economic distortions embedded in the recovery to a ticking bomb which could detonate another cycle of turmoil and crises.

Defusing that danger will require tough decisions. Cristina has retained the bulk of her husband's cabinet but revealed few policy details. The other unknown is the fate of Nestor, 57. The first gentleman lives and breathes politics. He denied speculation that he will be a back-seat driver. "We have been a couple for 32 years. We have passed through a thousand things together. She has to take the decisions and I'll be there to accompany her. It would be very bad to interfere. She'll be the one who governs and decides." Aides said he would concentrate on rebuilding the Peronist movement, a once mighty machine that has broken into squabbling fiefdoms. Backstory Latin America's macho political order has been shaken up by the election of two female heads of state and next year it may have a third if Paraguay's ruling party selects education minister, Blanca Ovelar, as its candidate. Ruling parties have discovered that women are an effective way to appear more modern. But it is premature to declare a feminist breakthrough. A glass ceiling keeps women under-represented. Once in office there is no guarantee of success.

Approval ratings for Michelle Bachelet have slumped and Kirchner swept to the presidency on her husband's coat-tails. In September, Jamaicans voted out Portia Simpson Miller and Guatemala's Rigoberta Menchú failed in her presidential bid. Elections in Argentina: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s Rendezvous with History - Knowledge@Wharton Elections in Argentina: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s Rendezvous with History Nov 14, 2007 Quote Ultimately, the forecasts turned out to be true. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, wife of Argentine president Néstor Kirchner, will become president after winning by a wide margin in the first round of elections on October 28. Fernández has made history. Never before in Argentina has a woman been elected chief of state. It’s also the first time that a woman in Argentina or anywhere else has succeeded her husband in that office as the result of the electoral process. Trained as an attorney, Fernández, the mother of two sons, has been a senator from Buenos Aires.

Last Sunday, she was elected president with 44.86% of the vote, a margin of more than 20% over Elisa Carrió, a Social Christian. In Argentina, only one woman has ever before become president, the widow of Juan Domingo Perón. His third wife, Isabelita Perón, succeeded Perón in that position from 1974 to 1976. After the results became known, Fernández told a crowd at a Buenos Aires hotel that she feels a double responsibility, both for the president and for her sex. Fernández, a candidate of the Peronista FPV party (Front for Victory), thanked her husband, noting that “with his successes and mistakes, he has shown that he is a man who is deeply committed to his country and his people.” Néstor Kirchner and his wife will exchange Argentina’s political documents beginning on December 10. Fernández will go from being the country’s First Lady to being president. Her husband will go from being president to “presidential spouse.” Several factors are involved in this unusual turn of events.

According to Carlos Malamud, chief Latin American researcher at the Real Instituto Elcano, “It was the decision of the president alone. He chose her and designated her to succeed him.” Malamud makes the usual comparisons between Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Hillary Clinton. He says that although both women are lawyers and wives of presidents as well as senators, Clinton — unlike Fernández — took her senatorial post after her husband ceased to be president. Second, Fernández was tapped to be the presidential candidate when her husband was still president. Finally, he notes, “In order to get elected, Hillary needs to undergo a tough process of primaries, which is something that doesn’t happen here.” Nevertheless, Juan Carlos Martínez Lázaro, professor at the Instituto de Empresa (IE) business school in Spain, believes that both women are alike in that “they have both shown they can act on their own when it comes to political issues.” Regarding Fernández, he says, “She is not a woman who is a decoration.

She’s not there just because her husband decided to put her there.” Cristina Fernández de Kirchner also lives in the shadow of another great figure in Argentine political history — actress and politician Eva Duarte, better known as “Evita”. Comparisons with Evita, the second wife of Juan Domingo Perón, captured the attention of the poor and the working class, and helped bring out the female vote. Evita didn’t manage to reach the vice presidency nor was that her desire. She suffered from cancer and Perón himself prevented her from doing that. However, Evita became a myth. Both women share a striking physical appearance and a strong personality. Raúl Aragón, professor and director of the public opinion researcher center at UAI, the Interamerican Open University, defines Fernández, 54, as “a sort of post-modern Evita. She has substituted ‘the people’ for the ‘shirtless’ ones [of Evita’s era]. She has class.

It’s as if she wanted to sing beyond her register; she forces the cords and loses the most subtle tones.” Sponsored Content: According to Martínez Lázaro, Fernández’ skill at exploiting the currents of populism comes from Peronism and it has vaulted her into the presidency. Nevertheless, her taste for fashion, make-up and populist speechmaking are not the only factors that have helped her become the next president. The key has been her role in overcoming the economic crisis that hit Argentina between 2001 and 2002. “The agony that existed four or five years ago no longer exists,” says Malamud. “Four years ago, poverty, social inequality and jobs were the people’s biggest preoccupations. Now they worry most about corruption, public insecurity and political transparency.” Kirchner gets credit for the economic recovery. “It could not be any other way,” Malamud says, “because he is identified as the national leader, even more so than Lavagna, the former economics minister who was the real force behind the recovery. Lavagna was also one of the presidential candidates. Lavagna’s proximity to Kirchner hurt him in the elections.

“His proposal to raise the value of Argentina’s currency wound up losing credibility among a good part of the electorate. The person who benefited most directly was Elisa Carrió.” On the other hand, Malamud says, the opposition to Fernández was divided and unable to get people excited about its proposals. This helped strengthen Fernández’ candidacy. According to Malamud, the people saw her as the embodiment and continuation of power. But if 45% of voters opted for this continuity, why didn’t they propose that Néstor Kirchner himself be reelected? According to Malamud, Kirchner’s believed that whenever an Argentine president is re-elected, things eventually turn out badly. If he decided to present himself as a candidate, his political capital would soon be destroyed. “The best way to avoid that was to present his own candidate who could win and continue his work — with him in the second spot. And since this is a society focused on married life, and their marriage was working out, he focused on that formula.” Malamud believes that there will be little difference between the management styles of Néstor and Cristina Kirchner. Fernández’ tour of Latin America, the U.S.

and Europe before the elections made people think that the future president will have more of an international vocation than her husband has. Martínez Lázaro, who was in Spain during Fernández’ visit to that country, believes that she moves better in international settings than her husband, despite the fact that international politics “has never interested her or been something that she exploited.” For Malamud, Fernández’ taste for travel does not translate into any changes in Argentine foreign policy. He notes that she was very blunt in her comments to the press a few days before the elections when she said she was going to try to maintain good relations with both the United States and Venezuela, but added, “That is going to be more and more difficult.” As Malamud puts it: “Her foreign tour was marked more by official receptions than by any serious intention to change her country’s foreign policy.” A Flagging Economic Rebound? Argentina has clearly emerged from the hole that it fell into in 2001. According to Martínez Lazaro, Fernández knows how to capitalize on the economic boom that is obvious in the country. The economic figures are very optimistic.

INDEC, the national institute for statistics and census, estimates that the GDP will grow by 8.7% during the second quarter of 2007 compared with the same period last year. Since the crisis, the unemployment rate has fallen by about ten points and it is currently at about 8.5%. The poverty rate has also been drastically reduced, from 50% then to slightly more than 25% of the population today. Despite such numbers, Martínez Lázaro believes that we are seeing a clear “rebound effect” after the country suffered such a deep drop in economic activity. He compares this process with throwing a ball on the ground: “The harder you throw a ball, the stronger the bounce. But we realize from the outset that the ball bounces a lot and that the second bounce will be smaller and the third even smaller. This rebound is running out of steam.” He notes that Argentina managed to get out of the crisis and grow at a high rate in recent years because of the enormous devaluation of the Argentina peso. In addition, the primary products that Argentina exports have higher prices now.

“The Argentine peso used to have parity with the dollar, and when this parity was eliminated, the peso suffered a devaluation of about 300%. This extremely strong devaluation led to a very high volume of exports; foreign markets were the ones who led this recovery,” he comments. Add to this the fact that prices for soy beans, for example, are at their historic highs amid growing demand, especially from countries in Asia. Despite the fact that the IMF forecasts growth of more than 7.5% for Argentina this year, Martínez Lazaro believes that important imbalances are cropping up. Argentina, he says, “has an inflation rate that is close to double digits. We now see the impact of the country’s devaluation and how this has been importing inflation for all these years as a result of the low value of the peso.” Official data places the cumulative inflation rate (from January to September 2007) at 5.8%. However, the IMF estimates that at the end of this year, it could reach 9.5%.

This lack of competitiveness, says Martínez Lázaro, “will wind up taking a toll.” With regard to inflation, he suggests that INDEC needs to be revived because it has totally lost prestige. The media, the opposition and some specialists are accusing the government of intervening in this supposedly independent organization in order to keep inflation below double digits. In addition, suggests Malamud, the Argentine government will have to face the energy crisis. To do that, it will have to attract new foreign investment. Before that takes place, he says, “they will have to settle their debt with the Club of Paris (19 creditor countries), which amounts to more than $6 billion and provide guarantees of legal security [to foreign investors].” This debt has become a problem for the Argentine economy because it prevents potential European investors from borrowing money to do business in Argentina. International investors, adds Martínez Lázaro, “have not trusted the Kirchner government; a lot has to change if investors are to regain their confidence in Argentina.” He adds that the disproportionate level of public spending during this election year might lead to higher deficits, which are one of the Achilles heels of Argentina’s economy.

“In recent years, Argentina has accumulated a surplus in its current account as a result of the export bonanza. However, this surplus is getting smaller because the bonanza has led to an increase in imports.” Despite there concerns, however, many observers believe that Fernández represents continuity for Argentina. “The big surprise would be if there weren’t any [continuity],” says Martínez Lázaro. Fernández defines her model as “the accumulation of growth with social inclusion.” This makes people think that there will be a significant emphasis on social spending. However, he notes, these perpetual subsidies mean “bread for today but hunger tomorrow.” Beyond the realm of economics, the new government will have to solve other problems, adds Malamud. These issues include public insecurity, corruption, and the need to rebuild Argentina’s democratic institutions. Citing Knowledge@Wharton Cristina Kirchner | The Plaid Avenger The Plaid Avenger Years Left in Office: To 2015; no re-election possible Political Classification: Center-left Education: MS, PhD in Law Age: 63 (born February 19, 1953) Cristina Kirchner Facts and Information Important Points Cristina Kirchner is Argentina’s first elected female president.

She has been president for two terms, and her second term ends in 2015. While she has been in office, same sex marriage became legal in Argentina which put it as the first Latin American country to do so and 10th in the world. She was married to former President Nestor Kirchner who passed away in 2010. The peso has lost a lot of value since she has been in office. The Rundown “Don’t cry for me Argentina!” was a song written in 1978 for the musical Evita based on the life of a famous female political figure in Argentine history, Eva Peron. However, Eva Peron is the old leading lady in the history of Argentina…the new star of this whole show is Cristina Elisabet Fernandez de Kirchner. Cristina, (as she is called by many Argentines, because they are cool like that and are on a first-named basis) was elected president of Argentina in 2007. She was born Cristina Elisabet Fernandez on February 19, 1953 in La Plata which is in Buenos Aires, a city in Argentina.

She met her husband in 1975 in law school in La Plata and they got married. She became Cristina Elisabet Fernandez de Kirchner. In Latin American culture, when a woman gets married, she keeps her full maiden name, but adds the “de” and her husband’s last name. (The formula: First name, Middle Name, Maiden name + de + Husband’s last name). Now you may wonder why going in to detail about her husband’s name is important when we are talking about our little leading lady, well, this couple was no ordinary couple. Cristina married Nestor Kirchner who in 2003 became the president of Argentina. Cristina. While Nestor was president, Cristina not only took to being First Lady, but she also took political power by becoming a senator in Argentina while her husband was in power. Not only was she able to support her husband as a wife, but she was able to support him politically. This was not the first time that they had worked together politically. In 1991 Nestor became governor of Santa Cruz and as governor; he had Cristina as his deputy.

Being that both of these people had power, and they were a strong couple…they were fondly known in Argentina as their own “Power Couple”. Power in this couple shifted when Nestor decided not to run for reelection in 2007, but supported Cristina in running for president in 2007. She has been the only person in Argentina who has held political office while running for a presidential election. She ran against Hilda Gonzalez who had also been a first lady in Argentina (her husband, Eduardo Duhlde). This rivalry was known as “The Wives Duel”. Cristina ran as the candidate of the Justicialist party (also known as the Peronist party). She won with 45% of the votes and won in October of 2007. She was officially in office in December of 2007 as the 55th president of Argentina. Fortunately, Nestor was able to see his wife go from First Lady to president of all 41 million people who live in Argentine. He passed away from a heart attack on October 28 2010.

Cristina Kirchner ran for reelection in 2011 and won, showing the world that not only as a woman could she become president, but she could do it TWICE. She has been on Forbes’ list of 25 most powerful women in the world a few times. This year, in 2014 she is number 19 at age 61. Since the start of her presidency, Kirchner has continued the policies that her husband started during his term. Cristina was the first female president to be elected, Evita Peron was also president of Argentina but she became president after being Vice President when her husband passed away. As president, Cristina has changed a few things. One of the more well-known things that she has changed was that Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, also being the 10th country to do this in the world. Also under her term, she brought the Argentine economy up from its rough times in the early 2000s but there is still high inflation and poverty still exists in this country. She has also had conflicts with the agricultural sector in Argentina which is pretty powerful.

She has also renewed contracts with the International Monetary Fund and also started to negotiate payments to cover Argentina’s debts to the Paris Club of Lender Nations. This is important because overall…Argentina is not doing so great, especially economically. This is to try to repair things. Argentina has tried to prevent depreciation from powering inflation expectations and interest rates have gone up. These wage negotiations will really show how serious Argentina’s government is about controlling spending. About 100 years ago Argentina was rich…but it was not modern. The educational system was not great because everyone focused more on agricultural things than furthering education, which in turn would have helped Argentina with technology and advancing more. That being said, Argentina not being modern meant that any external shake ups were hard and it meant that it lacked institutions to create effective policies. World War I was when Argentina’s economy received its first blow and since then there has been an ongoing division between farmers and workers. And under what has been known as “The Kirchner Era” Argentina was the world’s fourth largest exporter of wheat in 2006 (Nestor’s time) but since then, in 2013 they dropped to number 10.

Besides the wheat exportation numbers dropping, other things have gone downhill in Argentina, unfortunately due to the leadership under Cristina. In 2005 during her husband’s term, the GDP had a surplus of 2% and in 2013, under Cristina, it became about 2% deficit. Poor Cristina has tried a few things to fix everything, but unfortunately they haven’t been fully effective. In 2011 she issued controls on how many pesos could be converted into dollars by citizens. This led to a pretty successful black market for currency transactions and made people lose faith in the government’s economic policies. The biggest problems in Argentina can be pinpointed to being inflation and insecurity. In January of 2014, the peso’s value went down by 15% in two days. She is also pretty decent friends with Hugo Chavez who is not exactly a big friend of the West. In the past he had an alliance with Nestor Kirchner which really did help their governments in hard times when Argentina was trying to recover from an economic collapse of a decade ago. Chavez has been at the front of the leftist and anti-American populist wave in that region.

In 2012 when Chavez won his reelection Cristina stated that it was not only a victory for Hugo Chavez but also for Argentina, Chavez echoed that sentiment. The IMF…does not. The IMF does not have a great opinion of Argentina. It stopped really being of help to Argentina in 2001 when things were not going so well in Argentina. All of this has gone against Cristina in her hopes to change the constitution in order to be able to run for a third term, but being that most people do not believe that things will get any better until the next election and a new president, Cristina would not have really any high hopes of winning had she been able to run for a third term. But, do not lose all faith in Cristina! In 2012 there was compensation for Pepsol which became nationalized (it is an oil company), new inflation data that was credible, and there were cuts in water and gas subsidies. Also it does not hurt to be friends with the Pope! Poor Cristina has been through a lot and in November of 2013 she had to go through cranial surgery to remove a blood clot that was on the surface of her brain (called the dura).

Having been through that, she decided she was not going to sit back and become a lame duck, she wants to power through to the end of her term and try to get as much done as she can to turn things around even though the majority does not think she can do it. She also realized with the cranial surgery that she does not want to risk having the same fate as her late husband, and wants to make more time to spend with her family, which in the end really does make her just human. If someone does not put their health and loved ones first, before everything else, there are going to be problems in all the other aspects of their life. Hopefully this change will help Cristina until the end of her term! Photos Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner - Women's Political Communication Archives Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is an Argentine lawyer and politician who, in 2007, served as president of Argentina from December 2007 to December 2015.

She was the second woman to serve as president of Argentina (after Isabel Martínez de Perón, 1974 to 1976), the first directly elected female president and the first woman re-elected. She succeeded her husband, Néstor Kirchner, who served as president from 2003 to 2007. Fernández de Kirchner was born February 19, 1953, in La Plata, Argentina. She attended the National University of La Plata and married Kirchner in 1975. One year later, after the military junta seized control of Argentina, the couple fled La Plata for his hometown of Río Gallegos in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. There they opened a law practice and, with the return of democracy in 1983, became active in electoral politics. Fernández de Kirchner was a provincial delegate to the Justicialist (Peronist) Party (PJ) convention in 1985 and was later elected to the provincial legislature.

Her husband won election as mayor of Río Gallegos in 1987, and in 1991, Fernández de Kirchner became First Lady of Santa Cruz when her husband was elected to the first of three consecutive four-year terms as provincial governor. Fernández de Kirchner twice represented Santa Cruz in the Argentine Senate (1995 to 1997, 2001 to 2005). She also served in the Chamber of Deputies from 1997 to 2001. She was one of the PJ’s most vocal critics of the administration of President Carlos Menem, voting frequently against his legislative initiatives. Her husband assumed the presidency on May 25, 2003, after Menem—facing a certain loss to Kirchner in a second-round runoff—withdrew from that year’s presidential race. In 2005, Kirchner was in a struggle with former president Eduardo Duhalde for control of the PJ in the crucial province of Buenos Aires, where 38 percent of the Argentine population resided.

The struggle peaked in October when Fernández de Kirchner squared off against Duhalde’s spouse, Hilda González de Duhalde, in the Buenos Aires province senatorial election. In that contest, Fernández de Kirchner won 46 percent of the vote, easily defeating González de Duhalde, who claimed just 20 percent of the vote. While the high-profile victory helped her husband win acknowledgment as the undisputed leader of Peronism, it also reaffirmed Fernández de Kirchner’s growing political influence and helped insulate her against charges of inexperience during her own run for the presidency in 2007. In 2007, Kirchner decided not to run for re-election, and Fernández de Kirchner began campaigning for the presidency. She held a commanding lead in the polls, and in the October election, she captured 45 percent of the final presidential vote tally, nearly double that of her closest competitor, Elisa Carrió, who garnered 23 percent of the vote. Fernández de Kirchner formally assumed office on December 10, 2007, to begin a four-year term.

Almost immediately, she encountered criticism from the United States, which claimed it had intercepted campaign funds sent from the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez. President Fernández de Kirchner imposed a new tax system to significantly increase export taxes on grains in an attempt to control Argentine food prices. Her actions were met with large-scale strikes and protests by farmers’ unions throughout the country, who complained that the increase would reduce their profits. The increase in taxes was approved by the Chamber of Deputies, but was rejected by the Argentine Senate by one vote. In the midterm legislative elections held in June 2009, the president’s ruling coalition lost power in both houses of Congress. The results reflected her declining popularity as well as that of her husband, who lost his race for a congressional seat. The Kirchners rebounded from this setback, thanks to a fragmented opposition and a booming economy. Fernández de Kirchner pursued popular social programs, and, in July 2010, she signed legislation that made Argentina the first country in Latin America to allow same-sex marriage.

Her husband was regarded as a likely candidate in the 2011 presidential election, but his sudden death in October 2010 triggered widespread sympathy for Fernández de Kirchner, and she campaigned for re-election in his stead. On October 23, 2011, almost a year to the day after her husband’s death, Fernández de Kirchner won a landslide victory and secured a second term as Argentina’s president, and her ruling party reclaimed its majority in Congress. Argentina first lady takes office - PravdaReport Argentina first lady takes office 11.12.2007 Argentina first lady takes office In a rare husband-to-wife handover, Argentina’s first lady, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner took office as the first elected female president of this South American country on Monday. In her inaugural speech, Mrs. Kirchner has promised to continue with the policies promoted by her husband, which have led to four years of economic boom but failed to reduce poverty and inequality. "We want Argentines to have hope again," she said. "While there is one poor person in the country, we will always be one step away from a definitive victory," she said as spoke at the National Congress after swearing in.

The Kirchners became the most powerful couple since Juan Domingo Peron and Evita Peron ruled the country between 1946 and 1955. Mrs. Kirchner does not like to be compared with Evita but had a few words for her: “Perhaps, I do not deserve this as she does. But she couldn’t”. A 54-year-old mother of two, Fernandez is keeping many of her husband's top aides and has vowed to deepen his economic model emphasizing budget and trade surpluses and a weak currency to stimulate exports. Kirchner leaves office with high popularity ratings after taking power in 2003 with 22 percent of the vote, the weakest mandate in Argentine history. Print version Font Size Leaders from across Latin America, several European countries and the International Monetary Fund attended her inauguration, which has been marked by a flurry of diplomatic efforts to win the release of hostages held by leftist rebels in Colombia. On Sunday, Seven South American leaders found time to announce the creation of a common bank called Bank of the South, which is aimed at become a development bank as an alternative source of funds to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The Banco del Sur, or Bank of the South, is to be funded with $7 billion, the bulk of which will come from Brazil and Venezuela with Argentina contributing $800 million, according to press reports. Curiously, these countries will borrow money in the international market to fund the new bank, which will mean that they will lend at a higher cost than international lenders may offer. The Bank was announced at the Argentine palace of Government by the presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador. Despite funds will come from international lenders, the Banco del Sur was announced as a new sign of “liberation and independence” of Latin America from central powers. "We're making a decisive step in building the integration dream of the peoples of South America," Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president said, at the signing ceremony in Argentina's national palace, known as the Pink House. Hugo Chavez and Nestor Kirchner, the president of Argentina, pushed the initiative to create the regional bank in 2006, hoping it will help wean the region off what are widely seen as the negative influences of the IMF and World Bank.

Chavez said the bank was part of a broader "war" with the more advanced nations of the north. "The bank is a political fact and is part of an economic war that is also social and ideological," Chavez said. "We don't have money? We do, but it's deposited in banks of the north, in US treasury bonds ... in euros, in yens. The time has arrived to begin to bring these resources to the region," he said. Hernan Etchaleco Profile: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner - BBC News BBC News Profile: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner 8 October 2013 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Cristina Fernandez: First woman elected and re-elected president in Argentina Following the announcement that Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is to undergo surgery, messages of support have been pouring in for the leader. Political adversaries campaigning for the congressional election at the end of the month as well as leaders from the main political forces and regional foreign heads of state have wished her well in messages posted on Twitter. Her operation comes almost three years after the death of her husband and predecessor in the post, Nestor Kirchner. His death robbed President Fernandez of her closest political confidant.

Together, they made a formidable team and were often described as Argentina's power couple. Ms Fernandez secured re-election as president of Argentina in October 2011 with a landslide victory. It was in many ways a dramatic turnaround for Ms Fernandez, whose first term had been beset by rows and low approval ratings. While still a popular figure among low-income families and rural Argentines, who have benefited from the government's social policies, Ms Fernandez's honeymoon with the urban middle class seems to be over now. In recent months, thousands have marched against rising prices, government restrictions on the purchase of US dollars, and high crime levels. 'Wives' duel' Cristina, as the majority of Argentines call her, has often been described as a strong-willed woman, obsessed with her image. But she is also a politician with a long track record. She was born on 19 February 1953 in La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, where she graduated in law. She married Mr Kirchner, whom she met at university, in 1975. A year later, the couple went to live in his home region, the southern province of Santa Cruz.

At the end of the 1980s, she embarked on her political career, first as a provincial then as a national deputy. But it was her husband who rose through the ranks of the Peronist polictical movement. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ther Kirchners influenced and advised each other In 1991, Mr Kirchner was elected governor of Santa Cruz. He won two more terms, while Ms Fernandez supported him as a deputy. When Mr Kirchner took office as president in 2003 - in the midst of one of the worst economic and social crises in the country - a similar pattern emerged. By then Cristina Fernandez was a senator with her own political weight in Congress, where she actively supported her husband's policies that included boosting social spending. Ms Fernandez cemented her political position in the congressional elections of 2005. Taking 46% of the votes, she won in the province of Buenos Aires in a contest dubbed "the wives' duel", beating her main rival, Hilda Gonzalez, the wife of the former President Eduardo Duhalde (2002-2003).

During Mr Kirchner's administration, there was almost no decision taken in which she did not have a say, her influence exceeding that of an ordinary lawmaker. She was also the first senator to have an office within the presidential palace, provoking criticism from the opposition. The governing party insisted that the office was small and was hers by virtue of her position as first lady. Continuity Occupying the presidential palace, the Casa Rosada, in her own right, President Fernandez has broadly continued her husband's policies. I have the honour to be the first woman to be re-elected in the country. What more could I want? Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina There have been further moves to address human rights abuses of the past. Argentina also became the first country in Latin America to legalise same-sex marriages. Under her, Argentina renewed contacts with the International Monetary Fund after years of hostility and moved to renew negotiations over paying Argentina's debts to the Paris Club of lender nations. While Argentina has recovered from the economic woes of the early 2000s, there is persistent, and under-reported, high inflation and many Argentines still live in poverty. President Fernandez has also been frequently at odds with the nation's powerful agricultural sector.

Cristina Fernandez has been, perhaps inevitably, compared to Eva Peron, Argentina's legendary first lady who formed a formidable ruling partnership with her husband Juan Domingo Peron in the late 1940s and early 50s. But Evita was never elected. Cristina Fernandez, by contrast, was the country's first elected female president. "I have the honour to be the first woman to be re-elected in the country. What more could I want," President Fernandez told supporters after her victory on 23 October .

Question: Elected in 2007, Cristina Kirchner is the female President of which country?
Answer: ARGENTINA